2009-10 Women's Basketball

Bluffton 62, Manchester 42

Bluffton throttles Manchester in 62-42 win over Spartans

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team rode a stellar defensive
effort to its second conference victory in as many games, outscoring Manchester by
15 points in the second half on Wednesday, January 13, 2010. The Beavers improved
to 5-10 overall and 2-5 in the Heartland Conference, while the Spartans fell to 2-4
in conference play and 2-13 this season.

Going 2-for-2 from the charity stripe, sophomore Brittany Stegmaier (Garfield/Trinity) tallied the first two Bluffton points of the contest. At the 17:49
mark, Kim Miller (Delphos/St. John's) found Beth Yoder (Marshallville/Smithville) for her first triple on the night, putting the Beavers
up 5-4.

The lead toggled back and forth during the next five minutes. Following a trey from
sophomore Becky Ruble (Grover Hill/Wayne Trace), Spartan Sarah Lowther hit the jumper to tie the score at 14. Following a freebie from senior point guard
Vicki Auer (Cincinnati/Roger Bacon), Rachel Daman (Defiance/Tinora) drove to the hoop, giving Bluffton the lead. The Beavers never
looked back as they ended the half with a 28-23 advantage.

Miller sparked the offense with a pair of jumpers to start the second half. At the
16:27 mark, she produced an old fashioned three-point play to give Bluffton a double-digit
lead, 37-26. Bluffton continued to limit the Spartans, opening up a 48-29 advantage
while limiting the Spartans to a mere six points during the first 13 minutes of the
half.

With 3:44 remaining on the clock, senior guard Katie Lord (Toledo/Whitmer) gave the Beavers their largest lead of the night, 59-34. With time
winding down, freshman JennaReynolds (Logan) connected with Lauren Volosin (Pickerington/North) for the final two Bluffton points as the Beavers picked up the
62-42 conference win over the Spartans, snapping a streak of nine consecutive losses
to Manchester.

Bluffton hit just 19-of-54 (35.2 percent) from the field, but the defense limited
Manchester to 17-of-52 (32.7 percent). The Beavers connected on 6-of-18 (33.3 percent)
from distance, compared to a measly 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) for the Spartans.

Bluffton was a superb 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) at the line while Manchester made 6-of-14
(42.9 percent). The home team pulled down three more boards (38-35) and committed
seven fewer turnovers than their opponents (23-16).

The Beavers return to action on Wednesday, January 20, 2010, when they travel to conference
rival Defiance College to battle the Yellow Jackets. The contest is slated to tip
at 7:30 p.m.